Astragalus

Astragalus

(Ben Jing)

[synonyms] Dai grits (Ben Jing), Dai Shen, Du Shen, Shu Zhi, Bai Ben (BIE Lu), Wang sun (on medicinal properties), Bai Yao Mian (Hou Ningji's Yao PU), mianhuangqi (Ben Cao Tu Jing), Huangqi (Gang Mu), Jianqi (Liu Shilian's Yi Ji Cheng), Tushan paozhang Gen (Xinjiang medicinal materials), Dugen (Gansu traditional Chinese medicine manual), and Er Ren Tai (Liaoning Economic flora) )。

[source] it is the dry roots of leguminous plant Astragalus or Astragalus mongolicus.

[plant morphology] 1. Astragalus, also known as Astragalus membranaceus and Astragalus northeast.

Perennial herbs, 50-80 cm high. Taproot deep long, rodlike, slightly woody. Stem erect, upper part much branched, smooth or more hairy. Leaflets 6-13 pairs, leaflets elliptic, oblong or oblong, 5-23 mm long and 3-10 mm wide, apex obtuse, truncate or mucronate, entire, smooth or sparsely hairy above, white villous below; stipules lanceolate or triangular. Raceme axillary, with 5-22 flowers, arranged loosely; bracts linear lanceolate; peduncle covered with black bristles; calyx campanulate, calyx teeth 5, very short, covered with black short hairs or only covered with black pubescence on the edge of calyx teeth; corolla yellowish, butterfly shaped, ca. 16 mm long, flag petal oblong obovate, apex slightly concave, wing petal and keel petal clawed, base long petiolate; stamens 10, 2-bodied Ovary puberulent, ovary stalk long, style glabrous. The capsule is membranous, inflated, semiovate, 2-2.5 cm long, 0.9-1.2 cm in diameter, apex spiny, covered with short black hairs. Seeds 5-6, black, kidney shaped. The flowering period is from June to July. The fruit period is from August to September.

It grows on sunny hillside or edge of shrub, and also on sandy land by river or plain grassland. Distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Sichuan, Tibet and other places.

② Astragalus mongholicus

The main difference is that there are more leaflets (12-18 pairs) and smaller ones, the leaflets are usually oval, 4-9 mm long, the ovary and pod are smooth and glabrous, and the pod is 11-15 mm wide.

Distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Xinjiang and other places.

The stems and leaves of the above two plants are also used for medicine. Please refer to the special article for details.

③ Astragalus aureus

The taproot is thick. Each part of the plant has more or less pubescence. Leaflets 6-9 pairs, rectangular or broadly elliptic, 7-19 mm long and 3-8 mm wide, apex obtuse, sometimes emarginate, abaxially sparsely pubescent; stipules lanceolate. Raceme, 3-13 flowers; calyx campanulate, calyx teeth 5; corolla yellow, flag obovate, 12 mm long, 7 mm wide, wing petal has a very long ear, ear length several and claw like, keel petal than wing petal, flag petal is long, up to 15 mm; ovary glabrous, style puberulent. Pods glabrous, obovate, 8 mm long, bilaterally flat, with slender ovary stalks longer than pods below and a long beak at the top. 1-2 seeds. The flowering period is from July to August.

Born in the jungle, in the valley. Distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and other places.

④ Astragalus multiflora

The taproot is thick. The stem is 15-100 cm high. Leaflets 7~26 pairs, long elliptic to linear lanceolate, 8~20 mm long, 2.5 to 5 mm wide, green above, glabrous, below frost white, with more or less white long haired. Inflorescence racemose, with 15-40 flowers, often to one side; black hairs on pedicel and inflorescence axis; bracts lanceolate conical, with black villous; calyx campanulate, calyx teeth 5. The Corolla is white or yellow, the keel is shorter than the flag and wing petals, the ovary has long black hair, the style is glabrous, the pod is fusiform and covered with long black hair. The flowering and fruiting period is from July to September.

It grows on high mountains and grass slopes. It is distributed in Sichuan, Qinghai and Tibet.

⑤ Astragalus tangguer

Perennial herbs, 50-70 cm high. The taproot is thick. Leaflets 3-5 pairs, narrowly ovate or long elliptic ovate, 2-5.5 cm long and 0.8-2 cm wide. Raceme terminal or axillary, florets dense, pendulous; pedicel short, covered with black bristles; bracts linear, covered with black residual white bristles; calyx campanulate, calyx teeth pointed, 3 long and 2 short, inner surface of calyx tube covered with black bristles; corolla yellow, flag shaped, apex rounded, concave, ca. 17 mm long; wing and keel as long; ovary covered with black bristles. Pods fusiform, ca. 2 cm long, with ovary stalks longer than calyx. The flowering period is from July to August.

It grows on grass slope. It is distributed in Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai and Tibet.

In addition, a variety of Astragalus plants are also used for medicine in various areas. For example, spring astragalus (also known as Tibetan Astragalus) (Tibet), Yunnan astragalus (Tibet, Yunnan), curvulate astragalus (Yunnan), Aksu astragalus (Xinjiang), etc.

[collection] in autumn. Remove the soil, cut off the root head and branch roots, and bundle them separately after drying. Or sun to 60 or 70% dry, bundle into small bundles, and then sun dry.

[medicinal material] the dry root is cylindrical, with few branches. The upper end is thick, the lower end is thin, and the two ends are flat. It is 20-70 cm long and 1-3 cm thick. Generally, there is a thick root head at the top and a stalk base remains. The surface is grayish yellow or light brown with irregular longitudinal wrinkles or grooves. Lenticel transverse, slender, slightly protruding. It is hard, slightly tough, solid and powdery, with strong fiber and hairy fracture surface; the skin is yellowish white, with radially curved cracks, loose; the xylem is light yellow to brownish yellow, with varying numbers of radially curved cracks; the xylem of the old root section sometimes decays and turns black brown, or even falls off into a cavity. The flavor is weak and special. It tastes slightly sweet and has a beany smell. It is better to have long and thick roots, few wrinkles, strong and soft quality, enough powder and sweet taste. The root is small, loose, powdery and the top is hollow.

It is mainly produced in Shanxi, Gansu, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei and other places.

Xiaobaiqi (also known as xiaohuangqi) from Gansu, Hebei and Qinghai is the root of the plant Huangqi Jinyi; baidaqi from Gansu and Qinghai is the root of Huangqi tangguer; Chuanqi from Sichuan is mainly the root of Huangqi tangguer and Huangqi duohua. These commodities are similar in appearance to the above, but smaller in size, poor in quality and low in output.

In addition to the above varieties, there is also a kind of red Astragalus. It is the root of leguminous plant Astragalus polymorpha with high yield. The medicinal material is long cylindrical, less branched, thick at the top and thin at the bottom, 10-50 cm long and 6-20 mm thick. The surface is brownish yellow or nearly brownish red, with longitudinal wrinkles and a few branch root marks; the lenticel is transverse, light yellow or dark yellow, slightly protruding; the cork is easy to peel off. The cuticle is brownish white, the cambium is brown ring, the xylem is yellowish brown, the central color is light, and there is a fine white like radial texture. The Qi is weak and special, and the taste is slightly sweet.

In the south of Gansu Province.

[chemical constituents] Astragalus contains sucrose, glucuronic acid, mucilaginous substance, several kinds of amino acids, bittern, choline, betaine, folic acid (65 μ g / 100 g dry root), 2 ', 4' - dihydroxy-5,6-dimethoxyisoflavane and ursolic acid.

Linoleic acid and linolenic acid were separated from the saponification products of Astragalus membranaceus, and β - sitosterol was found in the non saponification part.

In addition, a saponin like crystal was isolated from huanggao produced in Korea.

(1) diuretic effect

Both subcutaneous injection of Huangqi Decoction in rats and intravenous injection in anesthetized dogs had diuretic effect. The diuretic potency of 0.5 g / kg was equivalent to that of 0.05 g / kg aminophylline and 0.2 mg / kg Dihydrochlorothiazide (subcutaneous injection in rats). The diuretic effect lasted for a long time and did not produce tolerance after 7 days of continuous administration. The healthy population also had diuresis and increased sodium excretion after taking Huangqi decoction. It also has diuretic effect in rats by subcutaneous injection or intravenous injection in anesthetized dogs, but it is worse than Huangqi. Both Astragalus and astragalus (of unknown species) also had slight diuretic effect on anesthetized rabbits.

② The effect on experimental nephritis

Three days before the injection of "Rabbit anti rat renal serum" to produce serum nephritis, the rats began to take 4-5 g of huanggao powder every day. After 3 days of serum injection, the urinary protein content in the rats was significantly lower than that in the control group. The pathological section also showed that the renal lesions were alleviated. Taking 0.8 g or 2 g of Astragalus powder daily is invalid. Oral administration of Huangqi powder (paotaiqi) can accelerate the recovery of proteinuria induced by high mercury chloride injection in rats. However, the weight of animals and objects in the medication group was significantly less than that in the control group. Oral administration of Astragalus membranaceus or radix astragali powder can reduce the excretion of physiological urinary protein, but the decoction has no effect. There was no significant increase in urine volume during medication.

③ Strengthening effect

The swimming time was significantly prolonged and the weight gain was faster in mice treated with Huangqi Decoction for 3 weeks. The total protein and albumin in serum of rabbits with liver injury caused by carbon tetrachloride increased after one week of administration, but further study is needed because there is no control group. Taking it for 9 days can protect the liver from the decrease of glycogen induced by carbon tetrachloride.

④ Effects on cardiovascular system

Astragalus sinicus, Astragalus mongolicus, Astragalus ammodendron, Astragalus japonicus and Astragalus japonicus of unknown species can cause obvious hypotensive effect by intravenous injection to anesthetized dogs, cats and rabbits, and Astragalus japonicus has rapid tolerance phenomenon when repeated injection. In anesthetized dogs, Huangqi or Huangqi Decoction also had antihypertensive effect, and the former had stronger effect. The hypotensive effect is related to direct vasodilation. For isolated frog heart, Huangqi decoction has inhibitory effect, while alcohol extract is excitatory. Intravenous injection of the Decoction in anesthetized rabbits can strengthen the contraction of the heart in situ. There are also reports

Chinese PinYin : Huang Qi